


A Deal is a Deal

by BardicRaven



Series: Magick in Flight [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Timelines, Canonical Character Death, Episode: s03e09 The Climb, Episode: s04e11 Heroes and Villains, Gen, Groundhog Day, Post-Belle-banishing-Gold, Time Loop, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-02
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-10 07:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3281870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BardicRaven/pseuds/BardicRaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gold gives Oliver Queen a second chance. At life. At life with Felicity Smoak. What he'll do with it... is anyone's guess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Deal is a Deal

**Author's Note:**

> ##### from a prompt that came across my tumblr screen, tho' not given to me. Hopefully, prompt-borrowing, if it leads to fic, is a forgiveable sin.
> 
> ##### http://storiesbyladychi.tumblr.com/
> 
> ##### received this prompt
> 
> ##### skulll4d asked:
> 
> ##### Olicity : Gold
> 
> ##### And, being the devoted beta that I am, and having beta-ed quite a bit of my sis-in-spirit's OUaT-fic of late, I took that in a whole different direction than was probably intended by the prompter.
> 
> ##### And here we are...
> 
> A prompt that was not mine, and I'm quite sure not meant in the way I'm taking it, but a story that came to me nonetheless. A gift for your Candlemas/Groundhog's Day reading pleasure. -B! :>O

Oliver Queen, or rather, what was left of him now that his mortal frame, stilled in death, quietly froze on a mountainside, drifted in that space between the worlds.

So many regrets, so many things left undone. What he wouldn't give for another chance.

Especially with Felicity. He'd seen her as he died, the spark of memory from a dying brain.

He knew he didn't deserve another chance with her – how many could you ask for? He'd lied to her, both about his feelings and about his chances. He'd left her to die, with no preparation for the war that was bound to come with his death, with his failure.

He would do anything to fix that.

“Do you mean it, dearie?” The voice echoed around him, coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.

“I see that you do. Well, I can help you with that. But remember... all magick comes with a price.”

“What price will you pay?”

“Anything.”

Oliver got the sense of sharp amusement from the void around him. “Anything is a large promise. Fortunately for you, I sense the magick of True Love around you, and that inclines me to be merciful.”

“Or perhaps not. What I will ask of you is not easy. You may regret your hasty promises, Oliver Queen.”

“The price for a second chance at True Love is to trust her. Bare your heart. Bare your soul. Trust that she will stand by your side. Neither in front of you, nor behind you, but always and forever at your side.”

“That is my price. Will you pay it, dearie?” If Oliver had known the owner of the voice, he might have known to beware, but he did not, so he can perhaps be excused his ignorance.

“Yes.” 

A high-pitched giggle sounded through the ether. “Sobeit.”

And Oliver felt himself falling, falling back into the real world, the world that he had left all-too-recently, and, he'd thought, all-too-finally.

 

>>>\----------->

Oliver awoke with a start. He just had the strangest dream. He'd been dead and this strange voice had spoken to him of magick and deals. And for him to bare his heart, his soul to Felicity Smoak.

It was the weirdest thing. It had felt so real, but it couldn't be.

Could it?

He shook off the feeling, got dressed, prepared to go into his day.

>>>\----------->

That was neither the last nor the worst thing that happened to him that day.

Dragged before Nyssa al Ghul, given a deadline he couldn't possibly meet, threatened with terrible bloodshed in the streets of his city if he failed to meet their impossible demands, all the while having a sickening sense of deja-vu, those were much worse.

As was the pressure that built with each moment, where each hour that he lived felt more and more like he had done it all before.

And nothing had changed.

He found out it was his sister who had killed Sara, although not of her own free will nor in her right mind.

He was reminded that it wouldn't matter, found that he was being forced into a battle he likely wouldn't walk away from, which would leave his team, his city, vulnerable and alone.

And all the while, the pressure inside his head grew worse, with each event that unfolded, with each decision remade.

And with each moment, his desperation grew.

He would give anything to have this end well, but at the moment, he didn't see how it possibly could.

Although apparently, it could get worse.

A puff of smoke and a man appeared in the Foundry. Short, slight of build, medium-length brown hair going to grey, sharp features, he would normally have been called unprepossessing if it were not for the air of menace he so casually projected.

“Who are you?” Oliver said, nocking an arrow.

“Put that away, dearie. You don't want to kill me, and trying will only annoy me. And trust me, you don't want to annoy me.”

“Who are you?” he repeated, not moving an inch, the arrow still pointing at the stranger's heart.

“Your fondest dream or your darkest nightmare. Take your pick, dearie. Tho' right now, I'd be leaning more towards the nightmare.”

“Why?”

“Because you made a deal with me and you haven't honored it. And you think to make another without doing so.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Forgotten so soon?” He gestured casually. “Here, have a little reminder.”

Oliver dropped the bow, the arrow clattering to the floor as he pressed his hands to his head as it exploded in pain.

Scenes flashed through his mind – scenes that seemed all-too-likely to come true if this current scenario played out, ending with his death on a mountainside, thoughts of Felicity his last as he died.

“Yes, they will. You will. Again.”

“Again?”

“Yes. You seem to make a habit of cheating death. This time was a little more literal. But you shall not cheat me.” _You shall not cheat her._ Why was he so caring for this mortal man and his lady-love? He couldn't have said, except for what he'd tell him – that he knew what came of lying and deceiving the one you loved, and he would spare him that pain if he could. Or perhaps he was just getting soft.

“And the deal?”

“To show her your heart. To tell her the truth. The real truth. About how you feel for her.”

“Honor the deal and you can make another. Escape this tangled web you've woven that threatens to choke all that you love.”

“Betray me and they all die.”

“Your choice.”

“Why?”

“Because no-one breaks a deal with me, dearie.” His voice, cold and menacing, dark with the certain promise of pain.

“No. Why that one? Out of all the things you could have asked of me, why that one?”

The man looked away, but not before Oliver saw the grief written, soul-deep, in his face. “Because I know what happens when you lie.” He turned back and the grief was gone, replaced by a cold anger Oliver recognized all too well. “Now, will you honor your deal with me or not?”

Light-brown eyes met ice-cold blue. Oliver held the man's gaze for long moments, unwavering, deciding. Finally, he nodded, once. “I will.”

“See that you do.”

And the man was gone.

>>>\----------->

“Felicity,” Oliver went up behind her where she sat at her computers, trying desperately to find a scenario that would save them all. Oliver was pretty sure she wouldn't find one, but appreciated the effort nonetheless. 

Felicity looked up at his touch on her shoulder, turned around. Oliver moved with tightly-wound grace as she spun, his hand falling to his side.

“Yes?”

He shook his head. This was so not the way he'd planned on telling her, but despite everything his rational mind tried to tell him, he believed that the stranger, _Gold_ , his mind supplied, was telling the truth.

And now, it was time for him to do the same.

“I don't know why or how, but I've been given a second chance.” At her confused look, he continued. “With this. With us.” He took a breath. “This isn't the first time I've lived this.”

“Oh!” she said. “Like 'Groundhog Day'.”

He smiled. “A little. Anyway, I made... a deal to come back here.”

“Oh?”

He nodded. “The deal was... I had to tell you... honestly tell you... how I feel about you.”

“Oh!”

“Yes. And yes, it took dying to understand how much I want to live.”

“For you.”

“For us.”

His hand reached out for her again, as if reaching for a lifeline. This time, she met it with hers.

_Neither standing before you. Nor behind you. But always and forever at your side._

“I haven't known how to blend the two sides of my life – Oliver Queen with the Arrow. That's why I've kept pushing you away.”

“But now... when I've seen how it ends if I don't take the chance....” He stopped, staring off into the distance, seeing far more than the Foundry's concrete walls. “But that's not the only reason. It just gives me the freedom to choose.”

“Felicity, I choose you.”

“I know who I'm fighting for now, or rather, what I'm fighting for. That freedom. To come home.”

“To you.”

Their eyes met, and Felicity nodded, once.

And the world changed.

>>>\----------->

Except, it didn't.

As events continued on their relentless course, Oliver got more and more frustrated, more and more afraid that his dream of another life had been only some sort of hallucination, that there was no way out from the terrible fate he saw approaching.

He knew the one man he could get answers from, and he would.

Whatever the cost.

Oliver thought of Gold, and as if by magick, the man appeared.

Oliver took an angry step toward him. 

“Nothing's changed! Ra's al Ghul is still demanding Sara's killer be brought to his justice. My sister is still at risk. My city will still bleed.”

Gold waved his objections away. “Calm yourself, dearie.”

“Nothing's changed.” Oliver repeated, cold and calm, the bone-deep anger lingering just beneath the surface.

“Oh, but it has. You just haven't seen it yet.” Gold gestured and Oliver felt the world change under him, tho' not in any way that he could see.

“Confession is good for the soul. Lightens it considerably. Important in a fight, no? And the love of a good woman will sustain you through the darkest night.”

Oliver ignored him.

Gold shook his head. _What fools these mortals be._ Blind, deaf, and dumb. Shakespeare had it right. But that was not his place to judge. He was here only to broker the deals. Destiny was for others to decide. “You've honored the deal. So you can make another, if you dare. Will you pay my price?”

“I will.”

“I see you haven't learned not to rely on my non-existent good nature. Be that as it may, dearie, what would you have of me?”

“Sara. Alive.”

A look of sorrow passed over Gold's face. “I can't do that. I'm sorry.” A moment of shared pain. “My magick is powerful, but even I cannot raise the dead.”

A quirked eyebrow.

“You were different. I found you in the Otherworld, and your body had not had time to fully die.” He shook his head. “You say your Sara was killed months ago, her body dead and buried. Too long.” Gold shook his head, staring off into a place that only he could see. “Magick has rules. And as I said, there's always a price to be paid.”

Gold shook himself, brought himself back to the present. “Would you have something else of me?”

“If I cannot have Sara alive, is there another way to change this outcome?”

Gold smiled, a smile that sent shivers up Oliver's spine. “Better question, dearie. And one I have an answer for: yes.”

“If you have the courage.”

“I do.”

“Oh, but I haven't told you for what. Not all courage involves shooting arrows in the night, dearie. Some of it involves believing in yourself.”

“What are you saying?”

“I'm saying go fight him. But allow for a different ending. We all write our own stories in this life – if you want a happy ending, then claim it.” That look of pain came over Gold's face again, leaving Oliver to wonder what the man's story really was.

“What's the price?”

Gold shook his head. “I've given you nothing outside of our original deal. And some free advice, which is worth exactly what you make of it.”He looked long and hard at Oliver. “It's up to you whether or not you take it.”

“I hope, for her sake, you do.”

And he was gone.

>>>\----------->

Oliver went to face Ra's al Ghul with a lighter heart. He stood as strong in the face of challenge as he had before, but something clearly had changed already, for he saw the barest of smiles pass over Ra's al Ghul's face as he accepted the challenge. Oliver could expect to find no mercy there, but perhaps, a chance nonetheless.

Change too, at home, where Felicity waited anxiously for his return.

He walked into the Foundry to find her there, alone.

“I sent them out. With my Loud Voice. Told them I'd tell them, later.”

Oliver nodded. 

“Did he accept?”

“Yes.”

She sighed. Took a breath, came back to her strength. “When?”

“I have twelve hours to settle my affairs. Then I have to go.”

“I wish you didn't have to.”

Oliver touched her shoulder. Felicity reached up, covered his hand with her own. Oliver could feel the strength and comfort she drew from his touch, the way she calmed and settled under his hand.

It was the same for him. Looking back, he couldn't believe that it had taken him this long to understand. Giving in to his deepest desire – it didn't take him away from his work as the Arrow, it strengthened him to be able to do it.

He could feel her solidity, backing him up, just as surely as he felt the touch of her shoulder, her hand on his.

“I know. But I do.”

She nodded. “Just please. Promise me you'll come back.”

“I will.”

And despite everything, she believed him.

>>>\----------->

Much to his surprise, the dance was far easier this time. He drew strength from his bond with Felicity, he drew courage from her presence in his mind.

And together, they were enough. Barely, but the degree didn't matter.

All that mattered was the result.

And the result was that Oliver found himself standing over Ra's al Ghul, sword-point at the man's throat, a single drop of blood rising beneath the steel.

“You live or die at my desire. Which will it be?”

“You know my answer, Oliver Queen. The answer any man gives – I want to live.”

“Very well. But there's a price.” He held the other man's gaze, showing him with every line of his body, every word he said, that he was prepared to back his words with blood.

Ra's al Ghul nodded, carefully, mindful of the blade at his throat.

“All blood-debt from your reign, known and unknown, is erased as of this moment. You and the League will make no further move against me or mine. And you will grant safe passage for me off this mountain and out of the League territories.”

“That is my price for your life. And if ever you or yours breaks any of these, then it is your life that is forfeit. By your own laws.”

Ra's al Ghul smiled then. “Well played, Oliver Queen. I will agree to your price. Let it be so witnessed.”

Oliver removed the sword-point from Ra's al Ghul's throat. The man rose gracefully from the snow, inclined his head the barest fraction of an inch in salute, and was gone, disappeared into the mist as if he had never been.

Oliver let out a long breath, smoky in the cold. He met Nyssa's angry eyes.

“I am sorry for your loss.”

“I am sorry for your gain.” She turned. “Come. My father has promised you safe passage from our lands, but I recommend that you do not overstay your welcome.”

>>>\----------->

Felicity turned at the sound of footsteps, hoping against hope that this time they would be the ones she was hoping for, praying for.

They were.

“Oliver!” she cried as she ran to him.

He caught her up in his arms, spun her around as they shared their joy at his safe return.

When he put her back down, she looked anxiously up at him. He leaned down, kissed her.

“Yes. It's all taken care of. The city is safe. My sister is safe.” _And I'm free. Free to love you as I've always wanted to, from the moment I saw you, and truly saw you. I'm free, Felicity, and I've come home. To you._

He bent down and kissed her again. That's how the others found them, lost in each other's eyes, each other's kiss, making up for lost time, showing gratitude for second chances.

They turned around and left them to each other. There'd be time enough, later, to help save the city from itself.

Right now, it was enough to let them celebrate their saving themselves from themselves.

The Demon's Head was not the only demon that had been vanquished this day.

Fear and doubt had as well, and if the Arrow were truly a symbol of hope for a better tomorrow, then this was certainly proof.

>>>\----------->

**Author's Note:**

> ##### As far as I know, a one-off, tho' I can see visiting this combination again in other ways, other places.
> 
> ##### Please comment, share as you feel appropriate, etc. The connection really does feed the Muse(s) and my soul.
> 
> ##### -B!
> 
> ##### YouTube Playlist for Grist can be found here:
> 
> ##### https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMIatlNPTOY&list=PL99Djnb8oDmjZmhqLlyr_3uPgyhNEAJmW


End file.
